New Fort McCoy Garrison commander, garrison command team support opening event for 2024 Monroe County Fair

New Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez as well as other members of the Fort McCoy Garrison command team visited the Monroe County Fair on July 23 for a fair opening event.

Attending the event with Baez were Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major. Baez and Calarco both spoke to attendees of the fair opening event, which took place at the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Tomah, Wis.

The opening event for the fair, a “Business after 5” event, included representatives from the Tomah Chamber of Commerce, Sparta (Wis.) Area Chamber of Commerce, and other community leaders.

The event was one of the first community events for Baez as the new garrison commander. Baez is U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy’s first Hispanic female commander.

“Col. Baez was pretty popular at the event,” said Public Affairs Specialist Christopher Jones with the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office. “Lots of fair attendees and event participants were stopping to talk with her and get photos with her.”

Community outreach is an important part of the Army mission. According to the Army, as stated at https://www.army.mil/outreach, “the Army is about more than ensuring our national security at home and abroad, it’s about giving back and getting to know the communities that support us.”

It’s also possibly important for community leaders to see the installation that provides a significant economic impact to their communities. Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for fiscal year (FY) 2023 was an estimated $1.38 billion, Fort McCoy Garrison officials announced earlier in 2024. Approximately 69 percent of the Fort McCoy workforce also lives within Monroe County. The total FY 2023 workforce payroll for civilian and military personnel was $190.5 million.

FY 2023 operating costs of $346 million included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, as well as salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy. Much of that includes supporting local communities as well, officials said.

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”